Author's Note: Aha! found it! Chapter Six. You guys really petitioned for it, huh? I was trying to hold it till you guys read my other story to build the drama, but that doesn't seem to be happening. So, here ya go. Well, chapter seven make take a little while. I'm spread a little thin, right now. My other story is just about to pick up (which some of you should read, btw), and I gotta get more dialogue. That's right, I'm playing through OoT to get the actual dialogue from the game for you guys, to make it as realistic as possible (of course I tweak it a bit so that Link and Navi can participate in the conversation, but you guys already knew that, didn't you?). Yeah, that's my excuse for playin Zelda now. sigh the things I do for you people...

Oh, yeah, btw, how were the stalchildren? they play a better role this time around, and you'll see soon enough.

anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 6: Hyrule Castle Town: Two Visitors Meet

The noise of people bargaining and chattering, horsing around, and sharing information was almost unbearable. Coupled with the sounds of animals and such, Link couldn't even hear himself think. That didn't matter, though, because all he was thinking was thought before: 'Who is the princess of destiny?' Huge signs were on every building. Some had faces, one had a target, another bottles. There was a large fountain in the middle of the square. Link found that fascinating: a man-made spring.

A man cleared his throat, meaning he meant to talk to Link. Link turned to face him. The man was an older fellow, slightly hunched over, with a great, long beard. He stroked his dark beard, which nearly touched his belt buckle, and said, "This beard is my pride and joy! Doesn't it look luxuriant, kid!"

"Lux-what? Well... Navi, look! He looks like the Great Deku Tree!" Link pointed at the man and Navi laughed.

"A tree!" the man cried angrily.

"Hey, if he looks like the Deku Tree... Are you the princess of destiny?"

"The princess! Why you, I oughta...!" He started to chase Link away, but was stopped by a guard.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the guard said. "Wait till you hear what that kid was doing all night..."

Meanwhile, Link was running away. "Link! The princess is a girl!" Navi shouted.

"Sorry, I don't know what a princess is!"

Link looked over his shoulder to see if he got away. The man with the beard wasn't even chasing him. He turned his head back to watch where he was going, and ran face first into a tree in the square. A couple of guys were sitting under the shade of the tree, and looked at Link.

"You okay, kid?" one asked.

"Yeah..."

"Doesn't matter..." the other one said. "We'd still laugh at ya!" They both burst into laughter at that moment, and Link wasn't sure if he should be offended or laugh with them.

Before he'd decided, the first guy spoke again. "Hey, don't be upset kid. We laugh at everybody. We're not mean or rude, we just love a good time! We even laugh at each other and ourselves! Like take this crazy guy! Do you believe this guy was crazy enough to sneak into the castle to see Princess Zelda? All because of this idiot, they've tightened security at the castle!" They broke out laughing again, and Link, though he didn't understand, laughed with them.

Once their laughter died down a little, the other guy spoke up. "What can I say? I wanted to see the princess. She should be your age, kid, but they say she's quite a sight! I avoided the guards... Swam through the moat... I was almost there when they caught me! I found a small drain hole on the right side of the castle that I thought I could sneak into, but I got stuck there."

They burst out laughing again, but Link just said, "Princess Zelda? Is that the princess of destiny?" They fell silent for a moment and stared at Link. Then they turned back to each other and cracked up at Link.

"What's so funny?" Link asked.

"Uh... Let's just move on, Link," Navi suggested.

"Hey, what's this?" Link said, staring at a sign with a picture of a bull's eye on it.

"It says, 'Shooting Gallery'," Navi informed.

"Let's check it out!" Link said, running in. Navi followed.

"Hello," the large man inside said. "Wanna play?"

"Yeah!"

"It'll be twenty rupees."

"Alright!" Link said, beginning to hand over the money.

"Link, wait!" Navi said, stopping him. "That money's from the Kokiri! Don't spend it on games!"

"You said yourself I'm a good shot, and the prize could be worth it!"

"Let the kid do what he wants, buggy," the man said.

Navi was offended, but Link gave him the money. The man described the rules, and then asked if he had a bow.

"A bow? No. But I've got this!" Link pulled out his slingshot and the man chuckled.

"Alright then," the man said.

Link then enjoyed his game. He was to shoot targets with his slingshot. The targets were shot out of the ground or hung from a conveyor line that the man controlled. Link could only win the prize if he hit every target. Toward the end, things started moving faster, yet in the end Link didn't miss one target. The game owner was utterly amazed.

"Wow! Well usually I give winners a quiver or something, but I've never had someone your age win…" The man pondered for a moment. "I know! I do have a slingshot bag!" He gave it to Link, who was filled with joy. The bag was a little larger than the one he got to start with, and it even had a loop to hold the slingshot in. Link transferred his seeds.

"Here, sir," Link said, handing him his old one. "Maybe you can give that to the next winner with a slingshot.

"Next winner with a slingshot?" The man laughed, but accepted the gift.

Link walked around the fountain in the middle of the square, and lethargy suddenly came upon him. And he fell over. Unfortunately, his weariness didn't knock out his feet, but an animal, charging through. A small girl came chasing behind.

"What was that thing!" Link asked.

"What, Charlie?" the girl responded. "He's my pet cucco!"

"That's a cucco? Well, I heard you shouldn't count them before they hatch." He got up and walked away as the girl just watched him with a confused look on her face and her cucco ran circles around her.

"It already hatched!" she called out finally.

"Link, stop trying to sound wise," Navi said.

"Wait, who's that?" Link said, peering ahead with half-opened eyes. There was a girl up ahead, about Link's age, and she was one of the prettiest girls he'd ever seen. She had long, red hair, with a little straw sticking out. She had blue eyes and a warm face. She had on a fairly simple, but complimentary dress, and she was singing.

"Princess?" Link said. He tried to run, but his body was shutting down on him. Each step he took was slower than the last. The girl stopped singing and stared at him. "P... Princess Zel... Zelda? I... have... a message... for... you..." PLOP! He fell to the ground, unconscious.

Link woke up in a small house somewhere. It was a cozy little place with a fireplace and a table. The pretty little girl was there with him, and he was lying in a straw-mattress bed. Link was okay. His sack, boots, and equipment were leaning against the wall by the door. The girl just stared at him with a smile on her face. He looked around, but didn't see Navi anywhere.

"Wakey, wakey, hon," the red haired girl said. "It sure took ya long enough to wake up. I've been takin' good care of ya, though. You're clothes sure are... different... you're not from around here, are ya?" All the while as she spoke, Link was sitting up, looking around for his fairy.

"Where's Navi?"

"Navi? Oh. Who's Navi, your girl?" The girl sounded sad.

"My girl? No, she's my partner."

"Partner? You cain't be more then ten!"

"What are you talking about? I'm talking about my fairy," he said, somewhat confused.

"You're fairy? Oh. Now I feel silly. You should'a said so before, sugar! Wait a second... green clothes... a fairy... Oh... You're a fairy boy from the forest!"

"Fairy boy? We're called Kokiri. So do you know where Navi is or not?"

"Well, I did see an over-sized firefly buzzin' around here earlier. It flew out the window after I got out the flyswatter."

"Flyswatter! You tried to kill my fairy partner! I've waited ten years for Navi!"

"Sorry, sugar. Didn't know nothin' bout that."

"That's alright. How long was I asleep?"

"Oh, all day. It's now four o'clock in the mornin'."

"Four o'clock? Wow... Where am I? Is this the castle?"

"Castle? No, honey. This is my Aunt Gale's house. She's out lookin' for her dog. An' my dad's takin' milk to the castle. An' while we're on the subject, I'm not Princess Zelda! My name's Malon! My dad owns Lon Lon Ranch! We came to town 'cause he's deliverin' that milk, but he hasn't come back yet..."

"Oh. I'm sorry. Uh... I've gotta see Princess Zelda!"

"An' why's that? Ya said you got a message for her?"

"Yeah. It's about an evil man, and the Triforce, and a stone. Goddesses and stuff. Anyway, it's really important."

"Oh. You wanna tell her a story? It sure sounds interestin'. Can I hear it?"

"Uh... I gotta see the princess."

"Aw, fairy boy. Well, if ya gotta, ya gotta. Fortunately for you, I knew ya wanted ta see the princess, so…" She stood up from her seat at the table and pulled a wooden tub into the middle of the room.

"What is that?" Link asked, perplexed.

"Why it's a bath tub, silly!"

"Bath tub? You want me to take a bath?"

"Well you sure ain't gonna go see the princess covered in all that nasty gunk!"

Link took a good look at himself. The blood and spider guts from the day before had dried on, and he stunk of sweat and blood. And for some reason he was wearing his over-sized tunic.

"Alright, alright," he consented. "But you're out of the house while I do it."

"I know that, sugar. I'll step outside here. My aunt took the liberty of washing up your tunic. It should be about dry now. That big, green dress of yours she put ya in ain't suited for seein' a princess!" She walked out the door and shut it.

"It's a tunic!" he shouted after her.

After he'd been cleaned and she threw his tunic in the window, he dried off and got dressed. He no longer looked like a mess of a warrior, but a handsome, and somewhat good-smelling young boy.

"There ya go, now," she said after he was ready. "Now let's see if we can do somethin' bout that hair." She made him sit down in a dining chair and let her brush his blond hair to make it look good.

About this time, Navi flew in the window and started laughing out loud at the sight. "You… you're playing dress up, Link? Getting ready for tea?" She continued laughing.

"Aw, shut up. This girl…"

"Malon," Malon assisted.

"Malon insisted that I get a bath and look nice to see the princess."

"She made you get a bath!" This caused Navi to laugh all the more.

"Shut up!"

"I can't say you didn't need it though," Navi said, calming down.

"Where've you been, anyway?" Link asked.

"I was searching around for the princess and stuff," Navi answered. "I found that the castle isn't even in Hyrule Castle Town, but behind it!"

"That's how it's always been," Malon said. "What, you expected the royal family to live next door to Average Joe?"

"Who's Average Joe?" Link asked.

"Never mind, sugar."

Navi giggled and said, "She called you sugar!"

"Yeah, she keeps doing that. OW!" he cried as she brushed out a really tough knot.

"What do you do to your hair? You're gonna destroy my horse brush, hon!"

"You're using a horse brush on my hair?"

"Well, yeah. Would ya rather I just use my fingers?"

"No…" Navi couldn't help but laugh again.

"Anyway," Navi said after calming down again, "Hyrule Castle is heavily guarded."

"That's what those two funny guys in town said," Link said. "What does that matter, anyway? We'll just go up to the… YEOW!"

"Sorry, sugar!"

"We'll just tell them we need to speak with the princess, right?"

"Come on, now, hon. Didn't ya schedule an appointment or somethin'?"

"Appointment?"

"Yeah. You don't think just anyone can see the princess, do ya? Only rich an' important people get to. Why, just the other day a fella came into town to see the king. Folk said he's the king of the Gerudos."

"What's the Gerudos?"

"You fairy folk! I tell ya. Gerudos are a race of Hyrulean women, but they've got a man born once every hundred years. A hundred years! Since they ain't got no other boys, they have to make this guy king from birth. Right now they've got a rather scary man named Dragmire. Ooh, I tell ya. Some say the princess up an' fainted when she saw him, right outta fright. Daddy said he really likes our milk, so the first thing he did when he settled in was ask for milk, but the king done run out! So they sent for more'n that's why we're here in town. Them Gerudos'll come an' steal horses from us, so I don't see why we bother, 'cept it's for the king. Supposed to be that he's up there signin' the king's peace treaty to put a final end to that there war that's been goin' for about a hundred years, now."

"A hundred years!" Link shouted.

"Keep it down, sugar. It is still five in the mornin' ya know."

"Well I think we're done here," Link said, standing up.

"Wait!" Malon said. "Ya still got some tangles on top of your head!"

"You know what I usually do about that?" Link replied, and planned to put his hat on his head, but couldn't find it. "Where's my hat?"

"What hat?" Malon asked.

"The hat I had on my head!"

"Now, hon, there was no hat on your head when I found ya."

"Fine." He ruffled through his pack till he found his spare hat.

"Well, fine then, sugar. It's been fun, but I guess ya gotta go!" Link started putting on his boots, his belt, his sword and shield, and his sack with the spare tunic inside.

"By the way, sugar, what's that?" She pointed at the coat rack.

Link felt very upset all of a sudden. He was about to walk out the door and almost forgot it. He hadn't even noticed it hanging there: Saria's ocarina.

"Oh, that," Link said. He picked it up and hung it around his neck again. "A friend of mine gave it to me."

"Is it some kinda instrument?"

"Yeah. It's called an ocarina. Well, I've gotta go now."

"Oh, well if you're goin' to the castle, fairy boy, would you mind findin' my dad? He probably fell asleep somewhere around the castle. What a thing for an adult to do! Tee hee!" She paused for a moment, and then started again just before Link walked out the door. "Oh yeah, if you'll look for him, I'll give this to you."

She walked over to him and pulled an egg out from behind herself.

"An egg?" Link said, taking the egg.

"Yeah. I've been incubating this egg very carefully… Tee hee!"

"Why in the world are you saying, 'tee hee'?" Link asked.

Malon shrugged. "I guess I just felt like it."

"Thanks a lot," Link said awkwardly. "I like the egg."

Link finally left the house with Navi and waved goodbye to Malon.

"You all make a cute couple!" Navi said.

"A cute couple! She's weird and she gave me an egg. Who says, 'Good luck with the Princess of Destiny, here's an egg'?"

"I don't know… I think she was hopin' for a goodbye kiss, sugar!"

"Shut up!" So Link chased Navi as she led him toward the castle.